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<title>I like shiny things, but I'd marry you with paper rings by fazcinatingreads</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29076972">I like shiny things, but I'd marry you with paper rings</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/fazcinatingreads/pseuds/fazcinatingreads'>fazcinatingreads</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Australian Rules Football RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Mirrors, architecture, groundbreaking, innovation, kitchen benches, may be based off a very minor character in The Lost Man by Jane Harper, reflective surfaces, revolutionary</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 13:00:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>608</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29076972</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/fazcinatingreads/pseuds/fazcinatingreads</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Footballer-turned-architect Alex Fasolo reflects on the freshest idea that he had shortly after retiring from AFLM, allowing him to run a successful architecture business and make more money than he ever made as a footballer.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

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<a name="section0001"><h2>I like shiny things, but I'd marry you with paper rings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In a trendy café with dim lighting and bearded baristas, Alex Fasolo sipped his almond latte and turned the page of the newspaper. </p><p>His own face glared back at him from the paper and he paused, latte halfway to his mouth, frozen.</p><p>One of his clients, unnamed, was quoted praising the work of his architecture on their kitchen surfaces. "Polarising" was the word they used. The article showed a large photo of him, from his playing days at Collingwood, his previous career.</p><p>Alex stared at the picture for a long time. Not for the first time, he was glad he'd been a forward for the majority of his AFLM career. Forwards always got the best photos. It was a secret him and his fellow forwards kept from the rest of the team, afraid the others would try to join them. Once he let it slip out in the locker room, in his last year at Collingwood. That defender from Port Melbourne had just walked in and Alex still regrets it to this day. </p><p>After another sip of his coffee, he turned the page. Alex flicked through the rest of the paper, eyes glossing over the sports section, not interested in that part of his life any more.</p><p>He drained the rest of his coffee and got up to leave. He called his thanks to the barista and with a final wave, he headed out to the street.</p><p>...</p><p>Arriving home, Alex placed his bag on a bar stool and gazed into the polished metal surface of his kitchen bench which he'd designed himself. </p><p>Alex admired his dazzling reflection in the surface, combing his fingers through the stray strands of hair sticking up at the sides, grateful that he had thought of this innovative architecture for surfaces all around the house. He had always liked looking at himself in mirrors, so why not have a mirrored surface everywhere? It was genius, Alex thought again for the millionth time, smiling at his gorgeous face in his kitchen bench.</p><p>"You going to get dinner started or just stand there?" his girlfriend grumbled, slamming her bags of groceries on the bench.</p><p>"Watch it," Alex murmured, worried about the bags making any scratches or dints.</p><p>His girlfriend rolled her eyes and unpacked the groceries. "I don't know how you're still getting work with this idea," she mumbled, putting the low-fat yogurt away in the fridge.</p><p>"Of course I am," Alex said, "My idea is groundbreaking. Revolutionising homes all around the world."</p><p>"But no one wants to look at themselves all day," she groaned, placing celery in the vegetable crisper.</p><p>"Yes they do," Alex argued, knowing he was right. He knew what the people wanted.</p><p>She just shook her head, arranging the apples in the fruit bowl so it all fit. </p><p>Alex walked over to her grocery bags. "Did you get any of that new Gippsland Dairy yogurt with the cookie mix-ins?" he asked, hopefully, pawing through her bags.</p><p>His girlfriend stared at him incredulously. "That stuff has sugar in it, Alex," she scolded, annoyed. </p><p>"So?" Alex asked, confused. "It's yum."</p><p>"It's bad enough we have to live in a house of mirrors," she complained, throwing up her arms. </p><p>Alex watched her reflection in the mirrored surfaces around the kitchen cast several annoyed arm-waving people. He said nothing.</p><p>"We don't need to eat sugar and have to stare at our flabby bodies 24/7," she noted, continuing to put groceries away.</p><p>"I thought everyone liked my architecture," Alex said frowning, "They say it's polarising, I thought that was a good thing. Like polar bears."</p><p>"It means there's contrasting views on it, idiot," his girlfriend corrected.</p>
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